It is well known in the art that sports such as paintball and the like are activities where the participants use a gun or a marker in the form of a firearm that shoots paintball capsules, generally spherical in shape, at very high velocity such as 250 to 300 feet per second. Thus, the players of such sports require appropriate protective gear to protect their eyes and faces for safety and to minimize injuries.
Protective face masks used for applications such as paintball and the like are known in the art. Most face masks on the market comprise an inner face open-cell foam portion mounted onto the frame of the mask by means of an adhesive. Considering that the foam is glued into the frame itself, it is impossible to easily replace it. The reason one would desire to replace said foam is because during game play, a player will sweat profusely thus causing the foam to become soiled, moist, and unpleasant to the wearer.
Another substantial drawback associated with conventional face masks is the fact that since the foam cannot be easily interchanged, masks rented on paintball fields pose sanitary and hygienic concerns for subsequent players.
Yet another drawback of conventional masks is the fact that glued foam portions cannot be adapted to various physical traits of a player's face. It is known in the art that maximum safety and enjoyment can only be attained if the mask fits the player snugly and securely.
There are also known in the art protective paintball face masks that comprise interchangeable face foams. For example, some face masks commercialized by the company JT™ (see www.jtusa.com) comprise a paintball mask with the option of an interchangeable foam, but this foam is generally retained in place by a hook and loop assembly (i.e. Velcro™) on the frame of the mask rather than being glued. However, there are substantial drawbacks associated with this manner of mounting the face foam onto the given mask: the Velcro™ bands will eventually cause noticeable ridges along their contours through the foam that can be felt by the user thus causing discomfort. Furthermore, the Velcro™ bands are not provided along the entire surface of the face foam; during game play, the foam can easily dislodge or slip off the intermittent Velcro™ bands thus necessitating the user to stop game play, remove the mask and properly reposition the foam. Finally, even when the foam is properly adhered using the hooks and loops, the fact that the bands are intermittent will never translate into an optimal fit to the user's face.
Hence, in light of all the aforementioned, there is a need for a mask, which by virtue of its design and components, would be able to overcome some of the above-discussed prior art problems.